was outraged except for the gentleman in harrisburg by the name of thomas elder, who thought we can use this. and political spin was was outr. the first rally putting harrison it spread like wildfire, and what we would now term energizing the base was definitely born. it was said without much exaggeration, log cabins were everywhere. it asmmentator described one long party. he was lucky because they were so diverse, to have a kind of base energizing. here at the convention, the one thing they didn't it as do is pass -- their views were so diverse, if they tried to pass a platform they might still be here. they were the first real party to go forth to the american people, saying it's going to be me.ific, but believe

do is pass -- the me. under the banner of to the canoe and tyler too -- tippecanoe and tyler too. >> american history tv is in harrisburg, the state capital of pennsylvania. the capital building was dedicated in 1906, and then president the it are roosevelt said it was the handsomest capital he'd seen. up next we will take you inside and show you around. >> this is our third state .apital in harrisburg the second one was an interim capital. this third one was commissioned in 1901, built 1902 to 1906. are building was designed in what is called the american renaissance style.

itit is a building that tries to incorporate as many european architectural motives and styles into it as possible. inside and out, it has an astronomical amount of ornamentation, both here and all the gold lefaing. -- leafing. the principal chambers are amazing. it's an amazing work of art. as you are walking in, we are to the west of the main entrance facing the susquehanna river out towards state street. as you approach the exterior staircase, you walk into the center and the rotunda opens before you. the rotunda rises up to the top, where the statue of commonwealth -- 24 karat gold. they will have the allegorical figure, depicted in the mural, and blast furnaces. pennsylvania, iron, steel

industry, and then presided over by the roman god of the forge. the spirit of religious liberty has allegorical angels leading anchor chains to the new world, which represents pennsylvania as a bastion of religious freedom. mineral and industrial wealth of the commonwealth. the spirit of light has oil there, with angels holding flames above it. as you go further you will have a railing, and you will have these eight-foot tall windows the rise up. as you go up, there will be the lantern which is about 270 feet in the air and has stars in the lantern and that is where the commonwealth statue sits, on top of the dome. most people ask about the green on the dome. they are red clay tiles. the entire roof line running up there is green tile.

joseph used and liked the empire green lays. chamber, the senate pennsylvania state capitol building, one of three principal chambers in the building. each chamber has a unique architectural motif that he keeps with. it's all part of the american renaissance. we have artwork of the ,hiladelphia artist oakley stained-glass windows by william rally vented in. throughoutque piece the entire capital. as you can see on the ceilings here, you will see the 24 carat gold leaf. most of the furnishing in the principal chambers is historic to 1906. thedesks are historic, throne chairs in the front and the carpet is a reproduction carpet. architecturally the goal was to incorporate as many european motives and models as possible.

it stems from 1893, chicago where they started to produce monumental public buildings in the united states, and joseph used in really saw that and he had taken the grantor and he came back here inspired and wanted to produce european buildings in the u.s. that's where the design stems from. the top freeze is by oakley, called international unity and understanding. it has a central figure and then everything moves towards that. the arms of the earth surrendering as they approach the oath of unity and the slaves being frayed -- freed as they approach the oath of unity. she has a pennsylvania delegation at the constitutional convention, 1787. on the other side she has president lincoln giving the gettysburg address. violent oakley lived until she was 87 years old. back before the

senate at that time. she went into great detail with the centers telling them what the representation for these murals were for them. the murals would put her to inspire the senators. now moved from the senate chamber to the house chamber. pennsylvania house has 203 members, versus the 50 members of the senate. the house is probably the most ornate room in the building, arguably. done in the italian renaissance versus the french renaissance of the senate chamber. the time when this capital was built, there's only about a 15 to 20 year period were a capital like this probably would have been built in pennsylvania, 1890 to 1910. that's what houston called it and what we still call it, pennsylvania's palace of art trade we were at the height of industry, the height of capitalism, everything was being made and done in pennsylvania at the turn of the last century. it won it to show its industrial

commercial wealth and it did that through the capital building. all the aluminum leaf and copper and everything else that was incorporated, one at to show that it was at the height of architecture and artistry and partisanship and that's what it chose to display through the walls of the capital. the chandeliers in this room, about three tons apiece. they actually go up through the next floor, through giant chains and turnbuckles, and they are attached to the steel trusses of the roof so they don't fall. smaller, light standards, and some of the sconces and whatnot were done by the pennsylvania bronze company. the murals in the chamber, the has 34urals -- it identifiable figures from pennsylvania history, with what is called the genius of state,

up at the top, william penn, benjamin franklin. then they are loosely grouped by famous religious figures in pennsylvania history, famous andrals, full activists, the like. benjamin west did the original. edwin austin abbey did all of the murals. he took that and morphed into his own understanding. the last mural, on the other side of the apotheosis, the first public reading of the declaration of independence. mural on the ceiling, that was painted by edwin austin abbey as well. originally joseph used and would incorporate a stained-glass dome into the ceilings. they decided in 1904 they would put another floor above that. he had to move his dome, and we

will see that over at the supreme court chamber. mural, the 24this hours of the day from light to dark. signs the zodiac depicted. joseph used in tried to, where possible, pick as many pennsylvania artists at the time. was a native. he lived in england for most of his adult life ended his work there, and sent it back over. abbey had done work for the boston public library called the holy was a native. grail murals, and houston saw those and really liked abbey's work. he was supposed to do all the principal rooms. he ended up doing the rotunda and also the house chamber, and then he got ill and passed away and violent oakley, the first female artist in the united states to do large-scale decorative mural painting,

didn't complete but she was given the commission for the senate and supreme court chamber after abbey's death. violet oakley ended up doing the majority of the work in the building, 43 murals over the course of 25 years. we are currently in the supreme superior court chamber. this is part of the design of joseph used in's plan for the capital -- houston's plan for the capital. this is one of three, philadelphia, pittsburgh here. dome and the supreme court was actually meant to be over the top of the house chamber, we believe, and they were adding a fifth floor to the building. even as the building was being constructed, they were kind of running out of space so they added more rooms on the top and they moved the dome which was already in production here. this was done by alfred godwin, stained-glass company out of philadelphia.

it has a penthouse over the top that lets light come in from the side. it is lit from the inside. is stilldays, the dome lit up but it allows natural light to come in. this is the final room that ar tist oakley decorated. the first commission she got was in 1902. these works were installed in 1927. she worked on the senate and supreme court at the same time, so she completed the senate around 1919 and then went on and did these works for 7 years. basically the whole friese represents her idea of what the evolution of world law is. it starts with antiquity and it works its way up through the 1920's, which is the evolution of world law and international law which culminates in world peace. the murals on this wall, william

blackstone's commentaries is a uniquemural. when you come in the door, that's the one you see facing. you see this imposing figure blackstone sitting on the bench looking at you as you approach the chamber. the figure off to the other side is william penn, thomas jefferson quoted penn is what he terms the greatest lawgiver the nation has known. lined up behind him are famous humanist thinkers. at the very top of the corner there, violet oakley painted a self-portrait. most people don't see that. oakley traveled to oxford's library and did research there and she asked the librarian for a history of law, and said there wasn't one, and she said, i will have to write one. she wrote one in terms of her paintings are what she wanted to produce, which goes through biblical hebrew, judaic,

different evolutions of law, and comes up through pennsylvania law, u.s. law with john marshall and then world law. it is an original work she has predicted here. capital preservation's role is to care for the fine decorative art, the historic and architectural fabric of the building. we were formed in 1902. we are a bipartisan legislative service committee. our goal is really to protect the 640 rooms, any of the artwork and architecture, that is the type of stuff we deal with so historic furniture, the clocks, historic civil war flags, you name it, we are a little bit across the board in what we do and how we care for the building and its upkeep. what we hope visitors take away from this, in appreciation for the monumental works of the commonwealth did, and in appreciation for the fine and

decorative art here in america, it's one of just a few that as -- are as ornate as it is. we take great pride in keeping and trying to guttedthe rooms are just -- aren't just gutted. there is an aesthetically try to chip -- showcase it as a masterpiece it is. -- gutted -- aren't just gutted. the masterpiece that it is. standing on the grounds of the pennsylvania state capitol here in harrisburg. up next, we will learn about the pennsylvania cable network and how it gives pennsylvanians an inside look into their state government. on the grounds of the pennsylvania state capitol here in harrisburg. >> we are at pennsylvania cable network. we are near harrisburg, pennsylvania.